It never has to be pretty, particularly the first time out, but at the end of the season they never ask how. They just ask how many.
And the Steelers are 1-0, with a 20-13 victory against Atlanta in their first regular-season game under head coach Mike McCarthy. A win is a win, even if the Steelers had to grind it out a bit Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium. The Falcons were knocking on the door until a familiar face kicked the door down.
The defense did what it's supposed to do against a third-string quarterback, with T.J. Watt leading the way as we've seen so many times before. And much like he's done to Joe Burrow and Carson Wentz, this time it was Cooper Rush who got a firsthand look at Watt's patented pass-rush jump.
Watt got his hands up, snagged the ball, and even went to the ground briefly before popping right back up to polish off a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was his third career touchdown but his first career pick-six.
That made it 20-10 just 55 seconds into the fourth quarter. While Watt's heroics were the high point, it was a total team effort from his side. Watt and Alex Highsmith both notched a couple of sacks, Jaquan Brisker picked off a pass, Cam Heyward batted down three passes at the line of scrimmage and Payton Wilson showed up all over the field with 12 tackles, including two for a loss.
Jamel Dean and Jalen Ramsey each also forced a fumble, but the ball didn't bounce the Steelers' way as the Falcons recovered both. Maybe more impressive was the way they limited Rush's top two targets. Wideout Drake London had just 2 catches for 29 yards on 4 targets and tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. was shut out entirely as Rush targeted him only once.
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was much more of a problem, racking up 173 yards of offense and a touchdown. But the Steelers found their own running game when it mattered most, closing out the game with Jaylen Warren ripping off a 9-yard rush for a first-down going into the 2-minute warning as the Falcons were out of timeouts.
Aaron Rodgers turned in some jaw-dropping throws, finishing with 221 yards and a touchdown on 24-of-40 passing. Offseason acquisition Michael Pittman Jr. led the way with 58 receiving yards on 3 receptions while Pat Freiermuth chipped in 5 catches for 46 yards and the first touchdown of the season.
The Steelers struck first with a 43-yard Chris Boswell field goal on their second possession, not quite midway through the first quarter, but the Falcons got on the board with the first touchdown.
After a Warren fumble in his own territory, forced by Falcons defensive lineman Cameron Thomas crashing into him, Rush hit Robinson on a swing pass to his right. Robinson turned on the jets from there, taking off for a 23-yard score.
But the Steelers defense responded by giving Rodgers a short field of his own. When Rush overthrew Jahan Dotson over the middle of the field, Brisker was there waiting to pick it off. Brisker made the interception at the Atlanta 41 and returned it 10 yards to the 31.
From there, the Steelers needed just four plays to find the end zone. McCarthy dialed up a double reverse pass on which DK Metcalf was double-covered in the end zone, so Rodgers looked underneath to Warren for 18 yards. After stalling in the red zone on the previous drive, it nearly happened again, but Rodgers wouldn't let it.
Rodgers extended the play on 3rd-and-3, kept his eyes up and eventually located Freiermuth in the back of the end zone. Freiermuth got both feet down for a 6-yard touchdown, putting the Steelers ahead 13-7 with 10:39 left in the first half.
